Chopard set the standards on precious jewellery, and now it seems that they have raised the bar yet again with the discovery of an ultra-rare and rather exceptional 342-carat diamond. The extraordinary story of a gem found in an arid desert to claim the hearts of millions as The Queen of the Kalahari. Chopard were meticulous in applying the Geneva-based Maison attaches in the process of the creation of this piece of jewellery resulting in ‘artistic vivacity and technical virtuosity’ that gives it the absolute beauty it and lasting destiny it deserves. Perfect in colour and absolute in purity, The Queen of Kalahari, has given rise to a set of 23 diamonds – famously known as The Garden of Kalahari – of which five weigh 20 carats. Chopard’s legendary reputation for artistic craftsmanship supersedes them and it is no wonder that six fabulous pieces of jewellery have emerged from the High Jewellery workshops of the Maison.

Docu-film “The Queen of Kalahari” Trailer

Mining this gem was heavily regulated and as a pioneer of sustainable development in jewellery, Caroline Scheufele actively encouraged the Karowe mine to join the growing number of Chopard’s suppliers – covering gold, coloured gemstones and diamonds.
And as art and cinema are inseparably bound up with Chopard’s history and identity, each stage in this extraordinary adventure was filmed by Alexis Veller, so as to present it in a 55-minute docu-fiction film.

Discovering a treasure
“I immediately sensed that this was an incredibly rare gem of exceptional beauty and purity”, says Caroline Scheufele when reminiscing on her first encounter with the diamond she named The Queen of Kalahari. Indeed it was at the heart of the deposit mined in Karowe, Botswana, that this exceptional stone was found. Born of the volcanic rock known as kimberlite, formed at high temperatures and pressures across endless ages, this diamond enshrines a sense of permanence and the strength of the ties that bind human beings to the earth.

The Garden of Kalahari in the making

342 carats: an eloquent figure testifying to an extremely rare size for a diamond of such absolute purity and perfect colour. The Queen of Kalahari combines D colour – the most beautiful – with grade F (Flawless) clarity. “The energy and emotional charge emanating from this gem are truly incomparable”, enthuses Caroline Scheufele, who immediately travelled to the open-air Karowe mine to admire this diamond discovered a year ago. It was love at first sight. Since then, she has personally supervised each stage in its development, like a lucky star guiding it towards its luminous interpretations and thereby giving rise to the most prestigious jewellery ever to emerge from the Chopard High Jewellery workshops.

Creative Audacity at Its Best

As Caroline Scheufele explains, “This is a truly exceptional stone, but we did not wish to treat it as a mere trophy, but instead to prepare it for a destiny worthy of its stature.” Entrusted to – and thus combined with – the peerless expertise of the Chopard ateliers, this 342-carat diamond has found its most eloquent expression – and its finest vocation – in an extraordinary ensemble of 23 diamonds: The Garden of Kalahari. Each of these gems, like the diamond from which they originate, is of absolute colour and purity.

In-House Editor

To say Hamyar has traveled would be something of an understatement. His passion for travelling has taken him from Tanzania to Dubai and an enviable number of places between, and the memories he captures always make for interesting reading. As well as travel, other subjects which fall into his expert remit include culture, design, fashion and cars - in other words, a born globetrotting who is destined for great things if his aspirations so far are anything to go by.